photo: Andy J. Gordon

An enthusiastic crowd at The Venice West was still on an emotional high 24 hours after Valentine’s Day and rode the psychedelic love train driven by Animal Liberation Orchestra. ALO is on the west coast leg of their 19th annual Tour D’Amour. Their live shows always have good vibe, dance grooves and the Venice, California show on February 15 lived up to expectations.

ALO wasted no time by opening the show with one of their spacey jams called “The Ticket.” Guitarist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz and keyboard wizard Zach Gill led the trippy journey with solos and infectious riffs. Bass player Steve Adams and drummer Ezra Lipp kept the rhythm pulsating. All four musicians contributed sweet harmonies when they weren’t each handling lead vocals. The quartet’s versatility and talent were on full display all set as the band blasted through songs from their 30-year catalog. Gill took on lead vocals during “Sugar” and played the accordion while Lebo blasted one of his distinctive, reverb laced solos.

The golden voiced Madeline Hawthorne, a Montana based country, mountain soul artist was the opening act of the night. ALO brought her out midway through their set to sing an inspired version of Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Lovin’ Fun.” It was the last stop on the tour for Hawthorne, who profusely thanked the guys for letting her play with them. ALO brought out another guest, saxophone star Jacob Scesney (multiple Grammy winner, Maroon 5, Jonas Brothers), who played a smooth solo during “Frames,” the title track from their 2025 album. Ezra Lipp took over vocals for “Demons” which featured a trippy synthesizer intro and a lengthy whammy, wah wah heavy Lebo guitar solo.

Gill led the band through the feel good “Growing Your Hands Back,” with all four musicians harmonizing beautifully. The crowd followed Gill’s urgings by raising their “jazz hands” during the song. Gill stayed on lead vocals for “Roses & Clover,” the title track from their 2007 album. Lipp played a short drum solo and when the band returned to playing, they smoothly segued into The Beatle’s “Blackbird” to conclude the song. They ended the set with another nod to Valentine’s Day by playing “Maria.” The danceable love song, with typically psychedelic ALO elements, got several couples in the audience dancing and featured fervent, alternating solos by Gill and Lebo.

The band left for a brief break but came back quickly for a two-song encore. Gill is the court jester of the band. He sporadically threw confetti into the crowd and squirted a bubble machine across the stage with a wide grin on his face. Before the band started playing the encore, he selected notes from the cauldron prominently set on a stage monitor near his keyboard array. It is an ALO tradition that allows fans to place personal messages in the pot before each show, hoping that Gill will read them aloud. Selections he read at the beginning of the encore included “Love all the time,” “We love you and you love us back” and “Put some boogie in our feet.”

The band obliged by playing the slowly building “In The End,” with Jacob Scesney rejoining them on saxophone, Gill on vocals and Lebo’s fiery solos through the song. They ended the show with “Fisheye Lens,” a catchy, infectious romp that went on a mind-blowing improvisational adventure with Gill and Lebo trading daring riffs. The crowd participated with a repetitive “ba-baba ba ba ba-baba” chant to wind down the song and show.

ALO brought a high level of energy, fun and musicianship to their show at The Venice West. The road warriors are at the top of their game and will continue to please audiences that come to see them perform. The Tour D’Amour travels along the west coast through the middle of March and ends later that month in the Midwest.